The present invention relates to an installation for treating superficially the outer surfaces of glass bottles already shaped but not yet annealed.
In this specification the term bottle should be understood to indicate not only bottles as such but also phials, jugs, glass containers and the like.
Superficial treatment of bottles comprises reacting a reactive gaseous mixture with the glass of the bottles. Such a treatment aims, on the one hand, at improving the mechanical properties of the bottles, especially their shock resistance, and, on the other hand, at making their outer face more suitable for further cold treatment.
The treatment installation is mounted in a bottle production line between a shaping machine and an annealing tunnel or furnace.
The treatment installation essentially comprises a tunnel along which bottles are longitudinally displaced and are subjected to the action or effect of the gaseous reactive mixture. The gaseous reactive mixture substantially comprises air and a gaseous reactant. Th gaseous reactive mixture is produced in an evaporator which is supplied with a reactive liquid and is traversed by an air current which evaporates the reactive liquid.